Sunday Snippet: Hold to Let Go

Hi! Before getting to the snippet, I wanted to take a moment and share my good fortune. Tomorrow I'll be celebrating twenty-four years of marriage. I'm lucky enough to have found a guy who doesn't stand in the way of my overwhelming need to write and create. He doesn't always get the why, but he certainly gets the need. And lucky me, he supports the sometimes crazy that goes along with it.

Happy anniversary, wonderful man!

Tonight's post is from Hold to Let Go, a manuscript about an intense connection between two characters who've seemingly been through the seven circles of hell and still live to talk about it. They start out separated and have to work their way back to each other.

Here's the tagline:

Banner Nix and Quade Newelson go way back and have a lot of baggage to show for it. When an opportunity to save their people presents itself, they put their crap aside and work together to make it happen, even though their plan is in direct opposition to their leaders'.

And here's the preview snippet…

Banner Nix took a break from the insanity that equaled plots and charts, not to mention the swirling mass of images in her head. Her fingers absently toyed with the Phoenix figure and her mind immediately filled with Quade Newelson. She lost a hard fought battle by letting her thoughts drift to him. So tired, she caved and sought comfort for a while, even if she'd only allow herself a few moments to ponder the connection she shared with him. The hold they had on each other wouldn't be considered healthy but they couldn't break it; it ran as deeply through them as the blood ran in their veins.

Except they were nowhere near each other at the moment.

Quade did his best to make his mark on the community and she commanded a cesspool of a crew that neither trusted her nor even liked her much at the moment. They didn't get the mission…and she didn't have time to educate them. Didn't want to anyway.

If she didn't understand it herself…how could she explain the impossible?

Very aware of the sidelong looks and whispered conversations going on behind her back, she missed nothing. It had been bad enough before they'd left, but it intensified here. People she used to trust…and who used to trust her…went out of their way to show how little they believed in their quest.

How little they believed in her.

Hell, even the old man didn't have faith. He wanted to…but not enough to bank the future of the community on it. She could deal though…because one person did believe.

Quade.

Completely unlike him to go on blind faith and not question anything, but he'd done exactly that. She didn't doubt for a moment he'd decided to get behind her and would have her back. He'd champion her mission without fail and stand for and beside her no matter what happened.

And if she finally fragmented into a million pieces, like it felt she could, from the weight and strain of the burden, he'd be the one to put her back together. She didn't trust in much right now, but she did believe in him.

Quade wouldn't let her down.

She rested her head on the desk, thinking it would only be for a few minutes. The Phoenix figure still clutched in her hand as if holding it somehow soothed the pounding in her temples, quieting the noise that never managed to completely stop. The fiery bird represented a symbol she couldn't seem to escape, kind of like the bond she shared with Quade.

Banner slowly drifted toward some much needed sleep, and she thought maybe the hold she and Quade had on each other didn't have to be so unhealthy after all.

This is one of my favorite connections…when the couple sort of has a touchstone effect on each other. Mistakes got made but when the shit hits the fan, they've got each other's back.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye